SSAATTBB choir and organ
This is an unfinished anthem for St.David’s Episcopal Church in Austin, TX. Director David Stevens had asked me to write a variation on the traditional old 100 hymn tune using a different set of words. To start I decided to write a kind of Chorale prelude that took fragments from the hymn tune to build up a dense imitative texture. The music changes and a new melody, using material from the opening, comes to the foreground . As this melody unfolds the choir intensifies while the organ gradually hints at various fragments of the old 100 tune. Something glorious was sure to follow but I never finished the piece. I sometimes return to this score and think I really ought to finish it. I will. Soon, I’m sure.
Below is the MIDI file and score of the incomplete piece.